Significant numbers of Christians and Yazidis have fled their homes in northern Syria’s Afrin enclave, World Magazine reports, ever since Islamist militants joined with the Turkish military this past January to oust Syrian Kurdish fighters from the region along Turkey’s border. Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units) to . . . Read More

Two thousand years of Christianity in Syria could be wiped out by the very forces Western governments are supporting, an Anglican vicar has claimed. Rev. Andrew Ashdown, who has made ten trips to Syria since 2014 and is studying for a PhD in relations between Christians and Muslims there, also . . . Read More

A church in a Syrian province under fire from Turkish troops has issued a plea for protection from the international community. Pastor Valentin Hanan of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Afrin, north-western Syria, wrote in an email to his supporters on Sunday (21 January): “We are at this . . . Read More

A month on from the massacre in the Syrian village of Sadad, Human Rights Watch has spoken out against the war crimes committed there. Sadad, a predominantly Christian town, was invaded by Islamist militias on October 21, before being re-taken by the Syrian army on October 31. Human Rights Watch (HRW) . . . Read More

A couple of days after she fled Syria for Turkey, a colleague sent me a message. “Dear Nuri, this is a court that the extremists established in my city, Lattakia, in the [Syrian] village of Kansabba. This Islamic court issues the law according to the extremists’ religion. It started today. . . . Read More

Eleven Islamist rebel groups in Syria have announced they no longer recognise the authority of the main opposition alliance, the National Coalition. Their announcement also calls for the Syrian opposition to unite under an ‘Islamic framework’. Its signatories include members of the Free Syrian Army as well as more radical . . . Read More

Syria has been torn apart by a conflict lasting more than two years.flickr.com/freedomhouse Syrian Christians are the victims of disproportionate violence and abuse as sectarian violence continues to engulf Syria, says a new report. Christian women are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse, while Christian men are facing pressure from both . . . Read More

The collapse of the Syrian state would be a jihadist triumph and a threat to Christians throughout the Middle East, says Yonadam Kanna, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly and Secretary General for the Assyrian Democratic Movement. Assyrians are an ancient ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East, and . . . Read More

Correspondent Nuri Kino lives in Sweden. Parts of his family remain in Syria. He writes: It’s mid-April, Friday, almost 9pm. I’ve showered, had a bite to eat and sat down in front of the TV. After a long day of work, I want to relax in front of a good . . . Read More